Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was the World Champion from 1963 until 1969. He was born in Tiflis (modern day Tbilisi) in Georgia to Armenian parents, but eventually relocated to Armenia in 1946 before moving to Moscow in 1949.

Petrosian was an avid student of Aron Nimzowitsch 's theories. His play was renowned for its virtually impenetrable defence and patient manoeuvring, a technique that earned him the nickname “Iron Tigran”. Despite this, his capacity for dealing with tactical complications when the need arose prompted Boris Spassky to comment that: ”It is to Petrosian's advantage that his opponents never know when he is suddenly going to play like Mikhail Tal ”, and Robert James Fischer to observe that "He has an incredible tactical view, and a wonderful sense of the danger... No matter how much you think deep... He will 'smell' any kind of danger 20 moves before!" Petrosian’s pioneering use of the positional exchange sacrifice underscored both his positional and tactical grasp of the game. Moreover, he has two major opening systems named after him: the Petrosian Variation of the King's Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.d5) and the Petrosian System in the Queen's Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3).

National Championships: Petrosian's first major win was the championship of Georgia in 1945 when he was 16. He won the 5th USSR Junior Championship in 1946 with a score of 14/15, won or came equal first in the championships of Armenia held in 1946, 1948, 1974, 1976 and 1980, won the Moscow championship in 1951; and shared first place with Vladimir Simagin and David Bronstein in the 1956 and 1968 Moscow Championships respectively. He gained his International Master title in the 1951 Soviet Championships, and went on to win the Soviet championship outright three times in 1959, 1961, and 1975, sharing the title with Lev Polugaevsky in 1969.

Team Play: Petrosian played in ten consecutive Soviet Olympiad teams from 1958 to 1978, winning nine team gold medals, one team silver medal, and six individual gold medals. His overall performance in Olympiad play was +78 =50 −1, the only loss being to Robert Huebner. He also played for the Soviet team in every European Team Championship from 1957 to 1983, winning eight team gold medals, and four board gold medals.

Classical Tournaments: Soon after becoming champion, he shared first place with Paul Keres in the first Piatagorsky Cup in Los Angeles in 1963. He won the tournaments at Biel and Lone Pine in 1976, the Keres Memorial in 1979, and took second place in Tilburg in 1981, half a point behind the winner Alexander Beliavsky. He was ranked among the top 20 players in the world until he died in 1984.

"Chess is a game by its form, an art by its content and a science by the difficulty of gaining mastery in it. Chess can convey as much happiness as a good book or work of music can. However, it is necessary to learn to play well and only afterwards will one experience real delight." - Tigran Petrosian

Petrosianic: I thought the quote was something like "If Petrosian sacrifices a piece, decline it. But if Tal sacrifices a piece go ahead and take it, because maybe he'll sacrifice two or three more, and then who knows?"

Howard: He died of cancer, as I recall. He'd been ill for some time, as indicated by the fact that he was conspicuously absent in the USSR-Rest of World match, which took place just a couple months before he died.

Yes, 55 was a young age in which to go. Just ask Tal--he, too, was 55.

offramp: Poor Tigran certainly died much too young. If any of you have read <Cancer Ward> By Solzhenitsyn you'll be aware that Soviet scientists were ahead of the west in curing cancer. Solzhenitsyn was cured.

I have said before that if Petrosian had lived and stayed healthy I am certain he would have out-Smysloved Smyslov and been rattling the Candidates' cages aged 64+. He had that special chess nous that is everlasting.

Howard: It's been noted about Petrosian that he was either a Candidate or the WC for TEN consecutive cycles (1952-1980). That record has never been surpassed.

When he played in the 1982 interzonal at Las Palmas, he came fairly close to qualifying, but he didn't quite make it that time.

On a final note, I still remember that his death was briefly noted in both Time and Newsweek magazines. That actually surprised me a bit--just how many Americans back in '84 would have known who the hell he was?

todicav23: "Armenia honours its World Chess Champion Tigran Petrosian with a banknote. The likeness of the 9th World Chess Champion graces the new 2000 dram which has recently been issued for the first time in the country, as part of a new series of notes. "

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